Twentynine Palms

I graduated from high school and, after a long, boring, hot summer in my small upstate town, I took a bus into Rochester and signed up for the Marines. It was 1977. The war in Vietnam was over. The only wars left were cold ones. That's what I told my parents when I returned to our dingy clapboard house after inking my papers. My dad just nodded and went out back to smoke a cigarette. My mom folded her hands together and told me she'd pray for me. Neither seemed too heartbroken about my decision. Sure, I'll be the first to admit: I wasn't an easy teenager.

After basic training at Parris Island, the Marines shipped me out to Pendleton and then off to Okinawa. The military and I agreed with each other. I liked the order and routine. I liked the fact that if you wanted to move up, you could. If you were happy where you were, the Corps was happy for you. I also discovered that I was pretty good with maps and, after a little practice, with air and satellite images. I shifted my MOS to Intelligence and the Corps agreed that I might have some talent. They sent me off to Twentynine Palms in the California desert for advanced training.

I gave my parents the news on my bi-monthly call to New York. As we finished our conversation, my dad asked my mom to hang up the phone in the bedroom.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Uhhhh." Never fond of words, my dad searched his limited vocabulary. "You never met my mom. Right?"

I almost laughed. Dad's family was a complete mystery to all of us. We knew he'd grown up in Buffalo. And, we knew he had a couple of brothers and sisters. But, we'd never met anyone from his side of the family. Thankfully, there were enough aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents on my mom's side to keep us busy on holidays.

"Nope," I answered.

Dad hesitated again. "Look," he continued. "It's kinda complicated. And, next time you're home, I promise to explain. But, this Twentynine Palms. You say it's near Palm Springs?"

"Yep, about an hour east."

Silence. "Okay," dad finally said. "Your grandmother lives in Palm Springs."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Never a word for twenty years and yet the guy knows exactly where his family lives the whole time?

"And grandpa?"

"No," my dad said quickly. "My dad died a long time ago. Your grandma remarried. I think he's dead too."

I tapped the wall next to the phone.

"You want me to stop by and say hello?"

Dad cleared his throat. "If you want. But you don't have to. She's kind of a unique... character."

I sighed. "Send me her address. If I get some time, I'll see what I can do."

"Yeah," dad answered. "I mean you don't have to. But it's something to think about."

We hung up and I went outside, sat on a bench, and smoked a cigarette. I'll admit. On the one hand, I was intrigued. Finally, I'd be able to solve the mystery of my dad's family. On the other hand, I was a bit ticked off. Who needed the extra drama? I snuffed out my smoke and returned to barracks.

A week later, the hot desert sun and I had become best friends. Most days, I woke early to work out before the sun really got going and spent a lot of time in air-conditioned classrooms. The base was pretty laid back, so I passed most of my evenings in front of the TV, reading a book, or shooting the shit with my brothers-in-arms.

I got weekend leave at the end of my first month. A couple of buddies and I decided to spend our two days of liberty in L.A. but we only got as far as Palm Springs. We'd left base as the sun went down on Friday and decided to kill our thirst at the first bar we came to. So, we ended up at Harry's, a crummy little joint on the north side of town. One beer led to two led to three led to six or seven. One of my buddies left with a girl and the other one left with a guy who said he could score some killer weed. That left me at the bar alone.

Closing time arrived and, with nowhere to go, I found a soft spot in a field next to the bar, pushed my jacket under my head, and drifted off. I woke in the morning to a blazing sun and a mouth full of chalk. Harry's parking lot was empty. My friends were gone.

I was contemplating the location of the nearest Greyhound station when I remembered the phone call with my dad. I pulled a worn scrap of paper from my wallet and hiked to a payphone down the street. There was no answer at Chez Swanson. I scratched my head.

What the hell, I thought. When in Palm Springs...

I dialed 411 and dropped another quarter in the payphone. Twenty minutes later, I slipped into the cool interior of a cab. The driver nodded when I read the address from the paper square in my hand and, less than fifteen minutes later, I was standing on the sidewalk outside the adobe walls surrounding a pastel house.

I straightened my shoulders and rang the doorbell below the intercom in the wall. The sun baked my hair while I waited... and waited. I was just about to give up and grab the next outbound Greyhound when a slick white Mercedes pulled up to the driveway. The driveway gate opened and the car disappeared inside.

A few minutes later, a woman in a short beige dress, sandals, and a sun hat walked back through the gate onto the sidewalk. She pushed her sunglasses down her nose and studied me.

"You must be Kevin," the woman said.

I nodded.

Her eyes roved over me and she pushed her dark glasses back into place.

"Come on in," she said, pivoting on her heels and disappearing back up the driveway.

Okay, I thought to myself. Not the warmest welcome in the world. But, a welcome nonetheless. The gate slid shut behind me as I followed the woman toward the house. She stopped at the side door and waited for me to catch up. As I did, she opened the door and waved me in. A gust of cold, refreshing air washed over me. I took a deep breath and the door behind me closed.

"Go on," she said from behind me. "Into the kitchen."

I moved forward into a big, airy kitchen filled with sunlight and parked myself next to the kitchen island. The woman pulled off her sun hat and a long cascade of silver hair dropped onto her shoulders. She removed her sunglasses and a pair of bright, blue eyes peered at me.

She was good looking - - with a perky little nose, soft chin, wide lips, and high cheekbones. It was hard to tell how old she was. Light wrinkles spread out from the corners of her eyes and her mouth but her skin was firm and tight. Her dress outlined a good-sized pair of tits, narrow-ish waist, and wide hips. Her calves tapered down to slender ankles.

"Uh huh," she said, registering my appraisal. "I'm Beverly. Your dad told me I might see you some time."

I liked her style - - direct, even brusque. The sparkle in her eyes suggested a more playful side to my grandmother.

"I'm Kevin," I answered, extending my hand. "Your grandson."

Beverly arched an eyebrow and ignored my hand. She sashayed to the sink and washed her hands.

"Have a seat, Kevin," she said over her shoulder. "Glass of water?"

"Sure," I replied and she brought over two glasses.

We drank our water together silently.

"Tastes great," I said, placing my glass on the granite countertop.

Beverly peered over the rim of her glass.

"You look like you needed it. Tough night?"

I laughed. "Tougher than some," I said. "Not as tough as others."

Beverly smiled. "Touche," she said, tilting her glass toward me.

She relaxed onto her stool.

"So tell me all about the Marines, big guy." She rested her hands on her lap.

And so, we chatted - - about the Marines, the weather, Palm Springs, the weather. About everything but the big elephant in the room.

"Where's your husband?" I asked when the flow of words paused.

Beverly chuckled. "Still safe and sound in St. Raymond's cemetery. I hope."

I grinned.

"Did you eat breakfast?" Beverly rose from her stool.

When I answered no, she opened the fridge, pulled out a carton of eggs and set about making a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

"You really do look beat, Kevin," Beverly said as she watched me eat. "I've got a pool out back." She stood and motioned toward a sliding door off the dining room. "And I've got a guest room and a bathroom back there." She waved her hand in the other direction.

She deposited my empty plate in the sink.

"Go clean up and I'll meet you poolside, tiger."

Dabbing my mouth with a napkin, I stood and thanked her, then headed toward the bathroom. After a quick shower, I ducked my head into the guest room and headed for the pool. The familiar hot, brittle air of the desert greeted me as I stepped outside. The pool was large and sparkling blue. It called my name.

"There you are," Beverly said. "Fed, washed, and looking... hmmmm... at least fifty percent better."

As I turned to her voice, my eyes widened in surprise. My grandmother leaned against an outdoor bar. She'd changed into a short, transparent robe. Under the robe, she wore a white bikini. The top encased two big, fleshy tits and a plush, shapely body. The hem of the robe ended just below her bikini bottom. Her thighs were lightly dimpled with age but still shapely. Her tiny feet sported bright red lacquered nails.

She laughed. "Need help getting your jaw back where it belongs?"

I shook my head.

"Sorry, I guess it's been a while since I've seen a woman in a bikini."

She laughed again.

I turned to the pool, embarrassed.

"You know, Beverly," I said. "I seem to have forgotten my suit in the car."

"Well," she replied, traipsing closer to me. "That is a real problem." She stopped and raised a hand to her chin. "I guess you've got boxers or something under those jeans, don't you, silly?"

I grinned. "Sure do."

I tugged off my shirt and shucked my jeans until I stood only in my tighty whities. Beverly's eyes flicked down to my crotch and back up to my shoulders.

"Go on, Kev," she said, pointing at the pool. "Have a dip."

I walked to the edge and dove into cold, invigorating water. When I surfaced, I flipped onto my back and stroked the length of the pool. Beverly stood at the edge watching me. I spun onto my stomach and swam another length.

"Damn," I said when I reached the end of the pool. "This water is fantastic."

"78 degrees, day or night," Beverly said, slipping her robe off her shoulders.

My eyes fastened onto her bikini top and feasted on the deep valley between her breasts. Beverly rolled her shoulders, shifting her tits back and forth. She smiled down at me.

"Good lord," she said, walking to the side of the pool. "It really has been a while since you've seen a woman, hasn't it?"

I grinned and dove down into the cool water. From the bottom of the pool, I saw her bare legs descend the pool stairs. She settled onto the lowest step. I broke the surface of the deep end and doggy paddled. Beverly reclined against the stairs, her chest pointed toward the cloudless sky.

"Come on over here," she said, her head tilted away from me. "So we can talk."

I swam closer until I was a foot in front of her. I rested my knees on the pool bottom so my body stayed in the cool water.

"You're quite a young man," Beverly said, raising her head so that our eyes met.

"Thanks," I said.

"Young, good-looking, and..." Her eyes sparkled at me. "Apparently hung like a horse."

I almost choked. Was she trying to shock me? Play some kind of game? Dad had promised a unique character, but this was way beyond unique.

Beverly extended one leg toward me under the water until her red-painted toe brushed against the front of my briefs. Her eyes never left mine.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Kevin," she said in a slow, deliberate voice. "Can I be honest with you?"

I gulped and nodded.

"Good," she continued.

Under the water, her toe pressed into my underwear then was quickly replaced by the top of her sole. She pushed her foot against my crotch.

"I need cock," she said. Her lips stretched into a wicked smile. "Healthy, vigorous young cock."

I'm gonna be honest. I blushed. Even as a young man, I'd met a lot of forward women but none so direct as Beverly. Her foot massaged my crotch and my cock responded by stiffening against her sole.

"But...." I sputtered. "You're my... you're my... grandmother."

Beverly rolled her eyes and traced her toes along the bulge in my briefs.

"Oh please," she said, still smiling. "I hardly know you." Her toes arched and flexed against my dick. "You hardly know me. We're complete strangers. The rest is all accident."

"Still... " I muttered.

"Still nothing," she said quickly. "Is that your big cock getting hard? Or is it my imagination?

She mashed her foot against me playfully.

"You aren't queer, are you?" She fixed her lips into a pout and shook her hair. "Too many queer men in this town."

I shook my head.

"So," she continued, her foot returning to its slow, underwater massage of my dick. "I need some cock, baby. Have you got what I need?"

Blame it on the hot sun, the cool water, a month of sausage-festing on base. Blame it on my age or on my grandmother's seductive wiles. At the time, I was too busy burning with lust at the sight of this woman's lush body and the persuasions of her foot to think about blame or guilt or all the rest.

In response to her question and her sexy little performance, I took her ankle in one hand and surged forward in the pool until I was between her thighs. Beverly giggled, sat up, and wrapped an arm around my neck.

"Be nice to me, baby," she cooed as she dropped her free hand to the front of my tighty whities. Her fingers massaged my cock. "And, give mommy some lovin'."

I pushed my mouth against her lips. Her eyebrows jerked in surprise but her arm tightened hard around my neck and her tongue slithered against mine. She mumbled something as her other hand pulled the waist of my briefs down, releasing my swollen cock. I pushed my hands onto her bikini top, squeezing her big, full breasts. She offered a muffled squeak and tightened her fingers around my dick.

"Oh yes," Beverly said, pulling her mouth from mine. "I... like... an... enthusiastic... lover."

As she tugged on my cock beneath the water, I pulled her arm from my neck and slid a bikini strap off her shoulder. She shook her arm and the top swung free across her chest, revealing two big floppy breasts that lolled across her chest - - ivory white surrounded by a deep tan. Her thick nipples topped her full tits like cherries on two pale sundaes. I ducked my mouth down to her chest and guzzled warm soft flesh.

"Oh shit," Beverly gasped, pushing her fingers into my hair. "Yes, baby. Oh, yes."

My cock was hard as wood and my shaft stretched her hand wide. As I mauled her big tits, I dropped my hands and yanked her bikini bottom down over her hips. She wriggled her ass and pulled a knee up to let the bottom slide free. I snatched her wrist and pulled her hand off my cock, pressing my hips hard against her crotch. She twined both arms around my neck and jammed her lips to mine. Our tongues swarmed together.

Pushing her leg across my belly, I reached down to scoop Beverly into my arms. Our mouths still locked together, I rose to my feet, pulling her out of the water. She squealed into my mouth and kicked her little feet in delight.

I carried her up the pool stairs and laid her on the warm concrete of the patio next to the pool. She gazed up at me, her tits heaving and her mouth parted in excitement. She raised her arms and spread her legs. My eyes fastened onto the tan lines that surrounded the silver thatch between her thighs. I grabbed my fat dick in one hand and dropped to the pool deck.

As I slid between Beverly's tanned thighs, I guided the crown of my cock to her pussy lips. Pausing, I glanced down at her. Her eyes met mine and she arched her neck, tilting her head backward. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her hands fastened onto my upper arms. I drove my cock into her. She gasped and her warm, slick pussy wrapped itself like velvet around my cock.

With the desert sun beating down on my back, I barrelled my cock in and out of Beverly and she squeezed her legs around my waist, riding my hips to meet each deep, hard thrust. Her soft belly quivered and shook as we fucked. My cock inflated impossibly stiff, and I dropped my mouth to her tits, sucking and licking her nipples.

"Yes, yes, yes," Beverly groaned as she raked her fingers into my hair and pulled my mouth hard against her tits. "Oh... fuck...." Her voice began wavering into high-pitched gasps.

My balls tightened and I drove my hips forward with a deep groan. As the tip of my cock dissolved in a long jolt of pleasure, Beverly dropped her feet to the ground and clamped her hands to my ass. Panting and huffing, her body shivered as we climaxed together.

"Oh jesus," she gushed as my cock twitched out its last spurts and our excited bodies downshifted. "You're like some kind of fucking animal."

I grunted and rolled off her onto my back. The sun blared against my eyelids.

"Fuck," I replied, catching my breath. "Wow. And double fuck... "

Beverly chuckled quietly next to me and dropped a hand onto my abs. Her fingers rubbed and massaged my taut midriff.

"You're a bad boy, Kevin," she whispered in a husky voice. "But lucky for you...and for me... I like bad boys."

I smiled and stretched, luxuriating in the warm sunlight on my naked body.

"You wash up in the pool." Beverly's voice moved from my side to somewhere above my head. "I'll be back with drinks."

Her footsteps padded away from me. I craved a cigarette. But having smoked my last one earlier in the morning - - I rolled onto my side and crawled to the pool. I slipped into the water and ducked to the bottom. My body felt incredibly relaxed, my muscles loose and calm. As I popped back to the pool's surface, Beverly stepped naked onto the patio carrying a tray. I watched her - - admiring her confident gait, her rolling tits, her big wide ass, and her long fleshy legs. She placed the tray with two glasses onto a table and waded into the water.

"Hmmmmm," she murmured, holding her head above the surface as she paddled toward me. "Nothing like a swim after a good fuck."

Our bodies met in the water and she wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

"Whaddya think, tiger," she whispered through a wide smile. "Feels pretty good, eh?"

I laughed and grabbed two handfuls of thick ass flesh. She pushed her lips onto mine and we kissed. In the water below, my cock expressed its own ambition. It waggled against her crotch.

"Oh no," she said, putting a finger across my lips. "Not right now, baby. Mommy needs a little break."

She laughed and unloosed her legs, pushed her palms into my chest, and propelled herself backward through the pool, away from me. Her tits glistened in the water.

"Come on, baby," she said, turning away from me and tramping up the pool stairs. "Let's have a drink."

My eyes tracked her ass, jiggling and quivering as she ascended the stairs. I followed her. My swollen dick wagged back and forth as I emerged from the pool.

Turning with a glass in each hand, Beverly's eyes widened.

"Good lord, baby," she said in mock horror. "Settle that monster down."

I laughed and accepted a glass. The gin and tonic shimmered across my tongue and I sighed with pleasure. The sun baked me dry in a flash.

"This way," Beverly said, gesturing with her glass toward the sliding doors. "Let's cool off and enjoy our drinks."

I followed her into the house and pushed the door shut behind me. The air conditioning rippled across my bare skin. Beverly sat on the long, beige couch that dominated the living room.

"Right here, honey," she said, patting the velvety fabric next to her. "Have a seat."

I settled myself beside her, sipped my drink, and relaxed. My cock refused to comply and still waved at attention between my thighs. Beverly grinned at me and dropped a little, soft hand onto my naked thigh.